San Jose Woman Gets Her Father's Ashes Back

A San Jose woman who lost both her jewelry and her father's ashes to burglars Tuesday was overjoyed to find out that the thieves didn't really want dad.

"I might get the jewelry back, you never know," said Cathy Wright. "But I got back what I really wanted."

Wright's quiet west-side home was broken into Tuesday evening while she and her husband were out to dinner, seeking some air- conditioned relief from the heat wave. The thieves took two jewelry boxes and a brown plastic box- like urn containing the remains of Wright's father, who died in 1991.

"I suppose they thought they had another jewelry box," said Wright. She reported the theft to police and made an appeal on KNTV news (Channel 11) for the urn's return, no questions asked.

Wright's plea was answered yesterday morning when the owner of a storage business near Capitol Expressway and Quimby Road found the urn, still bearing the mortuary label, in some bushes. He called police, and Wright reclaimed her father's ashes by midafternoon.

Wright promptly placed her father's ashes in a big, blue vase that looks nothing like a jewelry box.

"I'd been hanging on to him because his affairs weren't settled, and it was hard to settle him until his things were settled," Wright said. "And I just got used to having him around.

"He's in a nice, beautiful vase now, with his golfer's cap on top," said Wright. "We've got him back all comfy at home."

In the meantime, San Jose police have lifted fingerprints from the urn and are investigating.